My new Korean loves...

Spring is here and love is in the air. Yes, I am officially in love. With about ninety people. Ninety wonderful, tiny, Asian people.

Two weeks ago a bunch of us found out about the opportunity to volunteer at an orphanage in Busan and we were really excited to actually do some volunteering here in Korea. The orphanage just happens to be right up the street from my school. It is run by a nice old couple and their children, and they house 90 orphans from the age of one month to five years old.

I was a little nervous going for the first time because I didn't know exactly what I was going to experience. Would it be sad to see the children? Would they be well cared for? Would the adults be receptive to foreigners coming for two hours (the limit for visiting) or would they resent us for not doing more?

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the building and the grounds seemed very bright and happy and the smiling faces of the adults who greeted us told me I didn't have to worry. We met the family and signed in, and then went outside to the playground when we heard the pitter-patter and squeel of about 20 kids coming out to play. The children were mostly three and four years old and they were all dressed in matching red and navy gym suits, and they all (or most) looked very happy. We began playing with the kids and although some were shy or only interested in the shovel and sandbox, they all opened up pretty quickly. I immediately became attached to a beautiful little girl who was clearly part Korean and part Caucasian (I found out her mother was Russian). After a while, half the group took those kids for a walk and some of us went to the nursury to play with the babies. They were also delighted to see us and immediately began climbing all over us. They were just so fun to play with and hold and it really gave me such a sense of euphoria to be around them (don't worry Mom, I don't want any of my own for a long, long time...actually, you were probably getting excited)! Anyway, at the end of the two hours it was dinner time for the babies, and although we were sad to leave them, we knew we had to go and it was the perfect time to leave while they were distracted by yummy rice porridge.

playing outside

the little ones!

she's precious...and loving rice porridge!

Yesterday, I went back for a second time with Lex and Kate and I couldn't wait to see the kids again. When we arrived, we heard that the older kids had gone to the park and we were directed to the babies (yay!). We went to the two year old room and the moment we opened the door, 9 smiling two year olds came running over to us, with arms stretched out wide. The caretakers chose three children and told us to take them outside and play because they are too little to go outside in a group, they need one-on-one attention. When we got outside, I tried to put my little guy, Min Ji, down but he would not let go of me. He immediately began to cry at the thought of having to let go of me and I spent the next hour trying to get him to smile. We realized that they didn't get much one-on-one love and it was something that they craved so much. It made me really sad to realize this. I began to wonder if it was such a good idea to be coming for such short amounts of times and then leaving. I wonder if this could create lasting impressions and perhaps they would grow up to have some form of seperation anxiety.

Why so sad, Min Ji?

this guys always a happy camper

As the morning progressed and we took the kids back in to the nursery, Min Ji relaxed and began laughing and playing and climbing all over me. He was interacting with the other kids and just seemed to be having a really great time. By the end of the two hours, he was sitting against me like a lounge chair and just dozed off, so tuckered out from all of the playing. I had to wake him up for lunch and the caretakers gave us bowls of rice to help feed them. Min ji LOVED the porridge and I told him he was the number one eater of the day, not sure he understood though! Finally, it was time to go and we laid out floor mats for the bigger kids and put the smallest in cribs, shut off the lights and lullaby-ed them to sleep. Once again I left feeling completely happy and re-energized by the presence of such great little humans.

Though it was hard to realize the issues that the orphans will inevitably grow up with due to their unfortunate lack of parents, I learned a valuable lesson; Sometimes it's easier to avoid looking at sad situations, but if you can give just a little bit of your time, you can do something to improve them. Even if you can't do much, do something. These kids need any and all of the love they can get, even if it's not as much as they want or deserve. At least they can count on me to be a consistent visitor for the next four months!

happy Min Ji!

...and tuckered out

post-lunch naptime


look at that hair!

Check, Check, Check! And fun with ICEA...

Taekwondo- check!
Dress in traditional Korean clothing- check!
See the cherry blossoms- check!

I have gotten right to work on my Sixth Month Countdown To Do List, and last weekend I was able to knock off quite a few things on the list! Here's a recount of how it all went down...

One of the luckiest things that has happened to me in the last few months was being invited to a group called the International Cultural Exchange Association (ICEA). One day in February, I was feeling a little down and overwhelmed at school and on the way home I had to stop in an art supply store to pick up some things for my classroom. I had my headphones on and was going about my business as usual, when a Korean guy about my age tapped me on the shoulder. Usually when this happens its someone just wanting to say a friendly hello or practice their English a little. But this guy said in perfect English, "Hi, do you mind taking off your headphones?" I was suprised at his fluency and I took my headphones off and said hello. He introduced himself as CJ and told me that he was a university student and the president of an organization called the ICEA. He began explaining how it is a group for foreigners and Koreans to meet and exchange culture and practice our languages. When he asked me to join, I was so happy because I had been looking for something like this the entire time I'd been in Korea and believe it or not it wasn't easy to find. Suddenly, due to complete chance, the opportunity fell in my lap!

So far we've had three meetings and they've been so much fun. Each foreigner is matched with a Korean buddy and my buddy is a guy named Edwin (Korean name is Gi Hyun). He is 25 and in his senior year in university, due to the fact that Korean men have to serve two years in the army. Anyway, he's really cool and has great English because he lived in Toronto for a few months. I also got Alexis and my friend Scott to join and they have cool buddies as well. In fact, Scott's female buddy thanked me several times for "bringing the most handsome foreigner in the ICEA."

Not only is the group great for meeting people, but it has also allowed me to fulfill many of the goals on my Six Month Countdown To Do list. The first activity was to go to Beomosa temple for a hike and picnic. Our buddies made delicious Korean food and we saw the cherry blossoms as we made our way through the temple and up the mountain. Then, this past weekend we had a jam packed Saturday, with a Traditional Korean dress fashion show in the morning followed by Taekwondo in the afternoon. It was so much fun! Trying on the traditional dress (called Hanbok) was amazing. Even for Koreans, it is rare to dress up in Hanbok (mostly at weddings and maybe Korean Thanksgiving) so it was special for them too. After having a hilarious fashion show, we ate lunch and then went to a Taekwondo studio down the street. We were there for about 2 hours and got to see a demonstration by two level-5 black belts and learned different moves and formations of Taekwondo. It was such a great day, definitely one of my favorites yet in Korea.

Spring is in full swing now and I am continuing to make plans to accomplish all of my goals in Korea. Next weekend, a fellow Cornellian will be visiting me from Seoul and he is signed up to go shark diving at the aquarium. Yes, he is willingly going to jump in a tank of man eating sharks, and hopefully I'll be there to witness the insanity (and take pictures, of course)! There are a few more festivals in April that I want to go to and before I know it, Mom and Dad will be here! Only three and a half more weeks! Can't wait!

First of a zillion group shots

My buddy Edwin, proud of the picnic he prepared

Wearing Hanbok!

I wish this was my camera! Great shot...

Taekwondo- this guy did a kick over us and broke the wood...
I'm the 2nd butt in from the right

Lex and Me

Level-5 Black belt demo

Hello, my name is Ta-jeong

This semester, I not only have my regular 22 hours of teaching in which I have no co-teacher or curriculum, but I also teach an after school class. They decided that the after school class would be for the high-level English speakers because the in-school English classes are very basic and some high-level students don't get a chance to learn anything new. So, about 20 students interviewed for my class and I was able to pick the best 10 students. The class is twice a week, for an hour and a half each session, which makes for a lot of planning! I thought that this would be daunting on top of the planning I already have to do, but the class (called English Club) turns out to be an absolute delight. There are 10 girls in English Club (yup, no boys made the cut) and they are all great, dedicated students. It's definitely my favorite class to teach and one I know I will miss when I leave.

So, last week, my students asked me if I could give them English names. Having spent a lot of time memorizing their Korean names (which are very difficult to remember), I was a little reluctant. For example, So-young, Se-young, Sun-young, Tae-yun and Yu-jeong are just a few of them. But it's very popular to have an English name for when you travel abroad or meet foreigners and my students wanted me to be the one to name them. I told them that I would create a list of my favorite names and they could choose from the list, but on one condition; they had to return the favor and give me a Korean name. The excitement in their eyes to hear that I wanted a Korean name was unbelievable and I think they were way more excited about that than getting a name for themselves.

We decided that we would pick the names the following week in class. In the meantime, I saw the girls in the halls and in my regular English class. One of them told me they were still trying to think of my Korean name, but they already knew part of it would be "jeong." Personally, I thought that was not the prettiest of Korean names, but I wouldn't ever tell them that and of course I went along with it.

The next week, at the end of class I wrote all of the English names I had come up with on the board. Each girl immediately gravitated towards a name, and they surprisingly didn't fight over any at all. They chose Kelly, Eva, Emma, Hannah, Jenna, Courtney, Sasha and a few others that I can't remember right now. At first no one wanted Sasha, but when told them that Obama's daughter was named Sasha, one girl decided she had to have it. Anyway, it was so cute and I think the girls felt a sense of pride that they had really earned their names because they have improved their English so much this year.

At the end of class, one of my favorite students, Yu-jeong, reminded me that they still had to give me my Korean name. She stood up to formally present my name to me. "We chose the name Ta-jeong for you because it means "kindness" in Korean. But Jeong is the most important part. We wanted you to have Jeong in your name because our school is Gum-jeong Elementary and we always want you to remember us." At that moment I suddenly realized that I really care about these students and it is going to be so hard to say goodbye to them. I was very touched by the thought that they put into my name, and just as they felt a sense of pride as English students, it gave me a sense of pride as an English Teacher in Korea that I am doing a good job.

The experience also showed me how much I'm starting to love teaching. Though there are a lot of difficulties I face here, I really like the job and the results of my hardwork are definitely paying off. Now, I know that no matter what situation I'm in at school, whether I'm dealing with a problematic student or frustrated by the lack of communication, I can remember that moment and remind myself that it's all worth it in the end.



It's springtime in Korea!!...

Lex and Laura's Six Month Countdown To Do List

I love making to do lists. I'm constantly jotting down little things like "pay bills", "email friends and family", "update blog", etc. because writing it out helps me focus and follow through with my goals. I don't just make to do lists for day to day things though, I actually have a "Life To Do list". About a year or so ago, I was living in New York and going through a post-college slump, not satisfied with my job or the general path that I was on, so I decided to make a to do list for my life. I didn't make the list just to write down my hopes and dreams, but actually to commit to doing certain things in my life, such as traveling and finding a career that I'm passionate about. Making this list has not only helped me commit to things, it more importantly has helped me visualize my future and start living my life how I want it to be now. In fact, that list probably played a huge part in me actually coming to Korea.

So, a few weeks ago, my friend Alexis and I went to Jeonju for a weekend trip, and while we were there we realized that it was the exact halfway point of our Korean adventure. Although there have definitely been moments where we've thought "I can't wait to get out of here!" those moments have been few and far between. For the most part, the first half of our experience has been amazing and we're determined to make the most out of these last six months (now only five months as I write this). So, seeing as how I love making to do lists, I suggested that we write one for the rest of our time in Korea. There are many things that we've already done, but there are so many more things that we want to see and do while we're here, so I wanted to get it all down on paper.

Lex and Laura's Six Month Countdown To Do List:
(to be completed by Alexis, Laura and company prior to August 31, 2009.

- Go to the famous and beautiful Jeju-do Island and rent scooters
- Go to the DMZ
- Go to the Green Tea plantations in Beosong
- Learn to make kimchi!! (take a korean cooking class)
- Do a camping trip
- Take a Taekwondo class
- Go to a lantern festival
- Cheer at a Lotte Giants Baseball Game (Busan's team)
- Do a temple stay
- Go to the Boryeong Mud Festivial...which is on my birthday!
- Wear traditional Korean clothing called Hanbok
- See the cherry blossoms (did it this weekend!)
- Experience the craziness of Haeundae Beach in the summer
- Travel to China and SE Asia before going home

So far that's what we have, but I'm guessing we will probably add more things as we get closer to leaving. I am most excited to see places in Korea like Jeju-do, the green tea plantations and the DMZ. Jeju Island is probably the most famous place to travel in Korea because it's a subtropical island south of the mainland and has a massive volcano in the center. It is known as the Korea's honeymoon destination, but you don't have to be a newlywed to enjoy its awesomeness. People go year round, but summer is the best time and the best way to see the island is by scooter, which I definitely plan to do. Of course, I also have to go to the DMZ while I'm here so I can take a picture making a peace sign next to a North Korean soldier. Then, there are the cultural things that I still want to experience. Alexis and I both love Korean food and want to learn as much about cooking it before we leave so that we can make it when we get home. I also have to do a temple stay (Lex has already done it) so I'll do that with another friend one weekend this spring (or maybe on my own to make it a truly spiritual experience).

There are a lot of things that I've already done, which were on my original Korea to do list. Those include eating live octopus and other bizarre foods, going to the cities of Gyongju and Jeonju, my trips to Japan and Thailand, taking Korean lessons, making Korean friends, experiencing Korean traditions and so on. So there you have it, the official "Lex and Laura Six Month Countdown To Do list." I hope you look forward to reading about my adventures, I know I certainly can't wait to start living them.

The sick mask phenomenon explained...

Since I came to Korea, I have been absolutely fascinated with Asian people's seeming obsession with wearing sick masks. It is so pervasive that it's practically a trend. You can buy sick masks in every color and design, from polka dots, to animal faces, to all of the colors of the rainbow. When I first got here, I was very turned off by them, thinking that under that sick mask there was a contageous person. But, I quickly realized that people wear them for many different reasons. They wear them to prevent becoming sick, when they are already sick, to filter air pollution, to cover a nose job (for real!) and even to warm the brisk air in the winter when they take walks. The thing I've found the funniest is that Koreans are so careful to wear sick masks any time they think they could be exposed to germs, yet when they're not wearing them and they sneeze in public, they don't even cover their mouths! It's been fascinating to me to try to understand when and why people wear them, but this week, I finally understood. I can sum up my understanding of the origin of and obsession with sick masks in two words: yellow dust.

Yellow dust occurs each spring, when torential winds form in the Mongolian desert, picking up sand and carrying it South East towards Korea and Japan. It has been happening for centuries, and usually comes in the early spring with the changing of seasons. Well, sure enough, on March 16 we got our first Yellow Dust storm of the year. Viewed from space, it literally is a cloud of yellow sand moving from China, and settling right over Korea and Japan. While it doesn't exactly looking like a yellow rain cloud here, there is just a very dirty haze in the air. When its really bad, the dust actually collects on everything and you can see evidence of it if you were to swipe your finger across the hood of a white car.

So, all of last week I was sick, which is why I didn't update my blog. I didn't think I would be affected by the Yellow dust, but I definitely was. When I came to school on Monday morning, a teacher told me to keep the windows closed and make sure the children stayed inside at recess. Around town, many Koreans can be seen wearing facemasks. I certainly took the Yellow Dust seriously when I was told about it, but didn't much think that I would be effected as a young, healthy person. Boy, was I wrong! Within a day, I had a cold and allergies like I've never had before. My nose was constantly tickling with the oncoming of a sneeze.

Though I had my first experience last week, Koreans have been dealing with this for hundreds, probably thousands, of years and they've learned to adapt. Hence, the sick mask. I'm sure there are other reasons that they wear them so frequently (eek, remember SARS?), but I would bet that this is the original reason. I've been told we may have a few more dust storms this spring, but I'm not worried about it. I've had my eye on a pretty purple polka-dotted sick mask at the local market, and I think it's about time I invest.

Yellow dust storm over Korea and Japan

(picture from wikipedia.org)

Every cloud has it's silver lining...

The last two weeks have been intense. While I can't say the first semester in Korea was really that difficult, it definitely wasn't easy by any means. But now, since the new semester started in the end of February, I have really been challenged in a way that I haven't been in a long time.

The reason that my job has become significantly more challenging is because in the new semester, I have been given my own class. However, with this new class, my school has also breached many of the agreements of my contract. Basically, I have no co-teacher, no curriculum, and no Korean disciplinarian...all things that we are guaranteed as foreign teachers in Korea.

When I first heard I would have my own class, I was both proud to be given the responsibility and pissed that my school was taking advantage of me. I resisted, and told the other teachers at school that it was not my responsibility to create a curriculum. I don't have the experience or the expertise to do that, I explained. Their response was to bring me one textbook (mostly in Korean) and suggest that I look on the internet. Great. Big help. I quickly realized that I'm pretty much on my own now.

So far, it's been tough, but getting better each day. For me, I love the actual teaching and I'm ok with the disciplining. Most of my students are absolutely wonderful. There is only one class of fourth graders that is completely unruley, so I have demanded that their homeroom teacher come to my class and discipline. The part that is challenging for me is planning and creating lessons. It is much harder than it looks to put together a good, cohesive lesson that the kids both understand and find fun and interesting. On top of that, try making three different lessons a week for 18 weeks! It's just plain overwhelming. I find myself dreading school on the weekends and in the morning before work because I am so anxious about whether or not my lessons will work out. I'm working at it though and dedicating a lot of my free time to it, and in just two weeks I already feel like I'm doing much better.

So that's the hard part. Now, I'll tell you about the brighter side, because there always is one. Though I'm still anxious before each day, once I get through my lessons I feel a great sense of accomplishment. When I provide the students with a fun and interesting class, they actually enjoy speaking English. I genuinely have fun, too! And, by having my own class, I am really getting to know my students. They come into my classroom in their free time and love learning about me as well as sharing things (in English!) about themselves. It makes me feel like I actually am making a difference.

The beginning of this semester has definitely had its ups and downs. While I could have stood up and fought, contract in hand, I decided that by doing so the situation would only get worse. So, instead of trying to make things easier for myself, I'm looking at this as a great challenge and one that I know will make me a stronger person. Being able to live in a foreign country and teach students of another language all on my own is something I will be proud to say I've done. In the end, I know that if I keep a positive attitude and try to the best of my ability, it will be a very rewarding experience.

Well, that about summarizes the last few weeks of my life. It's Friday afternoon as I write this, and I can safely say, I haven't been this excited for the weekend in a long time!! Happy St. Patrick's Day!


I don't have pictures of my new class yet, but here are some from English Camp in January:

Students performing at English Camp, January '09

English Camp Closing Ceremony

Some of my favorite students

Weekend Trip to Jeonju

At the end of a long, grey winter my friend Alexis and I were getting restless in Busan and decided a weekend trip was in order. We were also dreading the start of the semester on Monday and wanted to do a little traveling to get our minds off of it. We picked Jeonju, a city in the southwest region of Korea, known for two things: having the best bibimbap in the country and for its well-preserved and fully functioning traditional Hanok village right in the middle of the city. Our goals were to eat some good food, sleep in a traditional Korean guesthouse, and have some new cultural experiences.

We left early on Saturday morning from the city bus terminal, just a few subway stops away from my house. It was a pretty long and expensive ride, at about $28 round trip ( I think I would consider that really cheap back home)! After three and a half hours on the bus, we arrived in Jeonju and hopped in a cab to the Hanok village. We couldn't find the guesthouse we were looking for, and quickly realized that this city was not at all English friendly so we were going to have to use our Korean language skills (the little that we have). We finally found a little inn, but it was all booked. Luckily, the owner was really nice called around for us, got us a room and then led us there herself. Now that's service, or "service-uh" as the koreans say. We ended up at an adorable little Hanok house and our room was simple but charming. We dropped off our things and set out for the day.



We spent the afternoon pretty much just wondering around, popping into museums and shops and snacking on the unique street food. The most interesting was the tempura fried ginseng root washed down with a cup of dong-dongju (homemade korean rice wine). It was surprisingly delicious, both sweet and earthy tasting, and we figured that the health benefits of ginseng more than offset the fattening batter it was covered in. My favorite part of the afternoon was when we went to the Oriental Medicine Museum, and learned about all of the wacky things people use to cure ailments. As we were leaving the museum we passed a massage room, where you could experience traditional massages and get all different kinds of treatments. There was a sign listing the prices, but unfortunately everything was in Korean. Using our fantastic skills, we were able to read that a 7 minute foot massage was just $1! We were so excited and obviously decided to do it, so we went up to the counter and showed them what we wanted. To our surprise, he pointed us to the computers!! We were extremely confused. We were like, did we just buy 7 minutes of internet time at an Oriental Medicine Museum?? It turned out to be a health consultation program for some kind of ancient healing system, in which you had to answer a questionnaire to find out which type of person you were and how you could best be healed. The questions were HILARIOUS. Some of my questions included, "Is your head big, in comparison to your body?" and "There are times when digested food come up through my throat for no reason. Yes or No?" We had a lot of laughs and decided that it was worth the dollar spent.








That night our mission was to have the famous Jeonju bibimbap and see a traditonal korean music concert. A women at the tourist center told us where to find the best bibimbap restaurant, so we headed there for dinner. It was a simple place but it was packed and we were lucky to get the last table. We sat down for dinner and they immediately brought us about 10 little side dishes to start. Typically in Korea, when you order a main dish, you will get 2 or 3 side dishes, usually kimchi and pickled radish. But in Jeonju, its what they're known for (along with the bibimbap), so it was something very special. My favorite of the side dishes were seaweed and clear noodles in a wasabi vinegrette and boiled sweet potatoes in a sweet sauce. It was all delicious, but the bibimbap itself was the star of the meal. For those who have never had it, bibimbap is a very popular korean dish and it means "mixed rice." Typical bibimbap is a bowl of rice with a vegetables, a fried egg and spicy red sauce on top. You then take your chopsticks and mix it all up into one mush of deliciousness. It's always good, but this bibimbap was something special. Served in a gold bowl, with a beautiful array of bright colors, it could be considered edible art. We dug in and came to the conclusion that it was definitely the best we've had. At dinner I had a thought, which I shared with Alexis; "If Korea is the best place to eat bibimbap and Jeonju has the best bibimbap in Korea, and this is the best bibimbap restaurant in Jeonju, then are we eating the best bibimbap in the world?" We decided that the answer was yes.








After dinner we walked to the Jeonju Culture Center and saw a wonderful traditional Korean music concert. The music was captivating and the people dressed in traditional attire were beautiful. It was a thoroughly enjoyable night, and when it was finished we picked up a bottle of Korean wine and went back to our little Korean guesthouse and stayed up talking until we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer.



The next day, we still had a a few unfulfilled goals- to hike up to a temple nearby and get a birds-eye view of the village, and to experience a tea ceremony. We grabbed some coffee and made our way up to the temple. It was really nice, but I'm sure once the leaves are out it will be even better. The view of the village, with all of the old asian style roof tiles, was great. We snapped some pictures and then made our way down to get some lunch. After round two of bibimbap (this time in a hot stone pot) we found an beautiful tea house, situated around a courtyard and garden. They didn't have a ceremony like we were looking for, but they were able to offer traditional tea in a perfect setting. The owner was really interesting, he looked like a mix between a monk and a hippy, with long hair and a beard and mustache and dressed in monk-like clothes. He showed us how to steep the tea and then offered to take a picture of us, which turned into a photo shoot of us around the tea house. It was pretty funny. After we finished, it was time to head home. We made our way back to the bus terminal and made the three and a half hour journey home. It was a nice end to the winter break and a great way to get refreshed for the new semester.


Oh and one more thing...I've finally added videos to my youtube page, enjoy and leave some comments!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/LCurrie711